Leitourgia

Jonah: Flooded with Grace (I) Catch of the Day Jonah 1:1-17 Today, we begin a two-week series on the life of Jonah entitled Flooded with Grace, and the title of today’s message is “Catch of the Day.” We want to answer those questions you gave us last Tuesday (and, if you have more, you can still write them down later), but I first wanted to take a little bit of time before we answer those questions to discuss the concept of grace. The questions you gave us are awesome, but I think that they require a little stronger understanding of God’s merciful nature before we can tackle them. So we’re going to be flying over the book of Jonah to see God’s grace in action. In this short yet powerful story, we’ll see how God loves, pursues, and offers grace to all of us. That will be very important as we look at some of your guys’ questions later. Also, it is my understanding you studied Jonah last year, but I want to study his life again so that we can gain a better grip on what ...

Series:  Relationships (XI) Message:  Meet Your Maker Scripture:  Psalm 139:1-16, 139:23-24 (Good to be back...hope you are having a fantastic summer with the fantastic interns...) Let’s review the two verses I hear you have been memorizing... 1 Peter 4:8 ‘Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins.’ Ephesians 4:2 ‘Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.’ I’ve been asked to carry your summer-long study of relationships under the theme of a relationship with God. Now, this is perhaps the hardest one to grasp because we can’t see God like we would see a friend or parent or authority figure. But, trust me, a relationship with God is important because all other relationships fall underneath it. Today, we are going to look at Psalm 139, which is one of the 150 ancient songs that are collected in the Bible. It’s a famous psalm of David, who, when writing, is facing all of these enem...

The branch of theology that deals with salvation is known as soteriology . It strives to answer three main questions: What did Christ’s death on the Cross accomplish? How do I get saved? Once I’m saved, what happens? The first question deals with the subject of atonement , and the third deals with conversion and sanctification (the process of holiness). Although there are many competing views of atonement and sanctification, these two subjects are relatively uncontroversial compared to the second question. It is here that we wonder how we are saved and to what extent humans and/or works have to do in the salvation process. I want to talk primarily about the means of salvation according to the two main camps: Reformed and Arminian theologies. What is Salvation? It helps to begin with a working definition of salvation. Salvation is the process by which we are saved from sin and welcomed into new life with Christ. It is not simply a one-time event; the rami...